Friday, May 26, 2006

Since the other post I put up and then deleted, came back to life and still had all the weird figures and errors which are not there in the DailyKos post just like it...well, I am just posting another post to move it down and make it not so obvious.

Couple of things from the Mayor's press conference on C-Span last night. It was excellent, and it showed how the local people including mayors are getting a chance to talk to the party leaders in DC.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democratic Party leader Howard Dean criticized the top Republican in the Senate on Wednesday, complaining that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has put socially divisive issues ahead of more pressing matters such as rising gas prices.

"The majority leader of the United States Senate wants to spend time on flag burning and gay marriage attacks, we want to spend time on what to do about Iraq, how to reduce gas prices for people, what to do about health care," Dean said at a news conference.

Dueling political scandalsDNC chairman Howard Dean refused to comment today on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's call for Rep. William Jefferson to give up his seat on the Ways and Means Committee, but said that if he is indicted, the Democratic party will "condemn" his actions. Dean hastened to note that Jefferson has not been indicted and that the actions (if they are indeed illegal) of one person within the party do not compare to what Democrats charge is a track record of unethical behavior within the GOP. Echoing what Pelosi told NBC News yesterday, Dean said if Democrats take over the House and/or the Senate in the midterm elections, they will quickly enact "real ethics legislation."

Democrats have been using legally-challenged Republicans Tom DeLay and Randy "Duke" Cunningham as the poster boys for a "culture of corruption" campaign alleging that the GOP is infected with morally and ethically inept members who need to be swept out of office in November. DeLay is quitting Congress on June 9 and Cunningham gave up his seat before going to jail a few months ago. When asked by First Read if the Jefferson probe affects that strategy, Dean quickly sought to distinguish Jefferson from the other. "There really is no comparison between one errant congressperson who may have done something wrong and again has yet to be indicted. But certainly, if he is, we would condemn that," Dean said. "There is a Republican culture of corruption and we will stand for honesty and openness in government," he later added.

Dean was speaking at a press conference with six Democratic mayors from around the country who were there to talk about the local challenges -- increased violence, high gas prices, health care problems -- they say they're facing as a result of the Bush Administration's "misplaced priorities."

A spokeswoman for Frist dismissed Dean's criticism.

Update from Renee: As long as I'm here adding the alternate comment link, I thought I should also post a link to the latest comment from Charlie. He needs help finding a campaign manager. Please help him out if you can.